


The (Very) Happy Elf

by Raven052



Series: 12 Days of Frerard Christmas [5]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Confessions, M/M, dressed as an elf, santas grotto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 15:47:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2817689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raven052/pseuds/Raven052
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank has a job in town as one of Santa's Elves. Not the most flattering of jobs, but it pays. <br/>When his crush sees him though, he wonders if he'll ever be able to look him in the eye again.</p>
<p>Just sometimes though... That Christmas magic pays off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The (Very) Happy Elf

Frank Iero had worked a lot of shitty jobs.   
He put up with them because he knew he was at least earning money, which he needed, and, anyway, he didn't plan on doing any of these jobs forever, he had bigger ideas. 

He had to admit though (to himself, not to anyone else, only himself) his latest job... Was kinda fun. 

As in every even half decent shopping mall across the country in the month of December (and the months before) Franks local mall had it's Santas Grotto, with its Santa in residence.  
And, of course, everyone knows, Santa needs his helpers.

Frank knew, okay, he knew he looked kinda ridiculous. Dressed up in red and green, with pointy shoes and a pointy hat, he was more than aware that the design (along with his height) made him look more like a pixie than an elf but...  
It was, actually, a pretty fun, and pretty easy job.  
Frank was half convinced he'd got the job because he was short enough to be an elf, but he didn't really care.  
Whether he was in the grotto, handing out the presents to the children at the end, going up and down the line, making sure those waiting were alright, or standing at the front, ticking the names off. It was all pretty good.  
Sure he had the odd troublesome little brats, but if any of them gave him grief, he just told them he'd get Santa to put them on the naughty list.  
That usually shut them up pretty quick.

Today, Frank was at the front of the queue. His favourite place actually. He was sat up on a stool, with a desk in front of him, a long list of those due to come and meet Santa waiting to be ticked off.

It was getting close to Christmas now, so the Grotto was pretty busy. Frank barely even noticed the time rushing by.  
Then, in a brief lull Frank got the chance to look up.  
He grinned when he saw someone he recognised.  
Mikey Way wasn't quite a friend, but they'd met a few times, hung out at parties.

Then Frank caught sight of who he was with.  
"Shit."

“Hey Frank!” Mikey called as he came over.   
Frank replaced his smile, trying to hide his nervous panic.  
“Hey Mikey.” He said, then looking over at Mikey’s brother, his smile faltered slightly, and he said, hurriedly, “Hey Gerard.”  
Gerard smiled at him, and gave him a quick ‘hey’ back.   
This was who had made Frank so nervous.   
Now, while Frank was quite used to seeing Mikey around by now, they seemed to know a few people in common, and they’d hung out alone occasionally, often found each other at parties, Frank had only ever seen the older Way brother a handful of times.   
And, one of those times had been at their house. Frank stopped over so he and Mikey could head out together (Frank kinda hated turning up alone, he felt it kinda set the tone for the rest of the night).   
He’d been waiting in the living room, when Gerard came running through, apparently on his way someplace else in the house.   
He was wearing simple, loose fitting jeans, and a jumper with the sleeves messily pushed up.   
Frank noticed a smudge of black on his cheek, it looked like ink, or possibly charcoal.   
His hair was a mess, and big, like he’d been pushing his finger up and through it a lot.

He’d paused enough to smile at Frank, a brief nod of recognition, then he’d carried on.  
But that was more than enough damage for Frank.  
He couldn’t understand it. Still couldn’t understand what it had been that suddenly made Frank… React in the way he did. Gerard had hardly been dressed up, not at all, in fact he’d been a scruffy mess.   
Frank had asked Mikey if Gerard was coming with them.   
Mikey had laughed, and said no, Gerard was ‘busy’ tonight.   
Frank hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him all night.  
Or since.   
It was getting a little stupid, actually.   
And this was why Frank was so nervous that day, dressed, like he was, as an elf. 

“How’s the job treating you?” Mikey asked, snapping Frank out of his musings, hoping he hadn’t been doing something stupid and obvious like staring at Gerard.   
Frank forced his attention onto Mikey, and he grinned. “Not so bad.” He replied.  
He shook his head then, making the bell on his hat jingle. “Kinda fun, actually.” He added.  
Mikey laughed. “I can see that. Rest of the outfit is a bit… Much though, right?”   
Frank shrugged, his grin falling slightly.   
“I think you look kinda cute.”   
He looked up, startled, surprised to find that he was correct and it had, in fact, been Gerard who spoke.   
_Gerard thinks I look cute? What?!_  
“Um.” Frank stuttered, feeling a slight blush creeping over him.  
Gerard smiled, shyly at him, ducking his head a little.   
He seemed embarrassed too.  
Which probably meant, despite Frank’s sudden fears, that Gerard hadn’t said it as a joke, or to make fun of him.   
He actually meant it.   
Frank was even more startled by this, and couldn’t think of a word to say.   
Mikey rolled his eyes. “Okay, you can stop flirting now. C’mon, Gee, we’ve got shopping to do.”   
Gerard grimaced slightly, clearly he’d been dragged out without his wanting to.   
Again, Mikey rolled his eyes. “C’mon.” He repeated, pausing briefly before he dragged his brother away, “See you tonight, Frank?”   
Frank nodded, an automatic response.   
He wasn’t thinking about anything other than the fact Gerard had just said he looked cute. 

****

Another stupid party. This one apparently special because they called it a Christmas party. Which, basically meant nothing except they had a few decorations up, and there was eggnog on offer.  
Frank had already tried it, and decided it was something you drank when already drunk. 

He hadn’t seen Mikey, and though he was having an alright time with the people he was with, Frank was quite tempted to leave already. 

Then, as if by magic, Frank saw Mikey, just wandering in through the door.  
And, by some miracle.   
Gerard was with him. 

Mikey caught sight of Frank, and smiled, then he went in a completely different direction, which puzzled Frank at first.  
Then he saw Gerard coming towards him instead.  
Just what was going on?   
Frank stood up as Gerard came near.  
Forced to lean in close to be heard, Gerard said, “I need to talk to you.”   
Before Frank could think about arguing, Gerard had taken his hand, and was dragging him off, up the stairs, and into an empty room.

Now Frank’s mind was coming up with crazy things, racing along, like his heart rate.  
Empty rooms at parties generally meant only one thing, right?   
But… Surely that wasn’t what this was about.   
Gerard locked the door behind them, and suddenly Frank wasn’t so sure.   
“Got yourself out of that elf outfit then?” Gerard said, wincing as he did. “That didn’t come out right…”   
Frank was still confused, but he quickly leapt to reassure Gerard. “No. I mean, it’s okay, I got what you meant. And, yeah, well, elf outfits don’t tell to go down well outside of the north pole.”   
Gerard smiled, gratefully at Frank.   
He looked away, nervously soon after.   
“You. Uh. You said you needed to talk to me.” Frank said.  
Gerard nodded.  
“Yeah. I. Um.”  
This was going nowhere, fast.   
So, Frank did a potentially very, very stupid thing.   
He made a bold move forward, grabbed Gerard’s hand, dragging him close.  
Then kissed him.

To say Gerard was shocked by this would be an understatement.   
But, to say he was unhappy about it would just be downright incorrect.   
After a few seconds, Gerard’s brain caught up to what was happening, and he kissed back, his hands reaching out, settling on Frank’s sides, holding him gently. 

They broke away, gasping slightly.  
“Well. Now we have something else to talk about…” Frank said, weakly.  
“Kinda.” Gerard agreed. “Although this pretty much fits in with what I wanted to talk about anyway.”  
Frank frowned, backing off a little to look up at Gerard.  
“Frank.” Gerard said, carefully. “I… Look. I don’t know when it happened but. The truth is… I like you. Except, that’s not quite right either, because I really like you and-”  
“How long?” Frank interrupted.  
“Huh?”  
“How long have you liked me for?”   
“Oh.” Now Gerard blushed slightly. “Um. A while. A few months now, I guess.”  
Holy shit…  
Frank suddenly realised Gerard had liked him longer than he’d liked Gerard.  
“Are you kidding me?”   
Frank didn’t mean to blurt out those words like that, but his head was currently spinning.  
Thankfully, Gerard only laughed. “No. I’m not kidding.”   
“Oh. Shit. Shit. I mean… Fuck. I’ve liked you, a while now, but I never thought you would-”  
“Why?” Gerard interrupted. “You’re cute, funny, interesting, talented, and… I’m sure a million other things I haven’t even begun to discover about you.”   
Frank couldn’t even think of how to respond to that.   
“So. Are… Are we gonna try this then?” Gerard asked. “You know… You and me.”  
“Like… Dating?” Frank asked.  
Gerard shrugged. “Sure. I mean… That’s what people who like each other do, right?”  
Frank laughed. “You really that out of practice?”   
Gerard just bit his lip, looked away shyly.   
“Okay.” Frank said, leaning in closer again. “Yes. Let’s try this.”  
They kissed again, slower, more carefully this time. 

A little later, when they were back downstairs, Frank asked, “What made you make the decision to finally tell me?”   
“Seeing you dressed as an elf.” Gerard replied, simply.  
When Frank gave him an odd look, Gerard laughed. “No! I don’t mean… Damnit. I meant, it reminded me that it was Christmas, and… What better time to tell the truth?”  
Frank smiled at that, and nodded.  
Seemed a good enough reason to him. 

Even later, they walked home together, admiring all the houses lit up by brightly coloured lights.   
Frank spotted a house with little elves out on the front lawn.  
He was suddenly even more grateful to his job.   
It’d led him to the best Christmas surprise ever.


End file.
